In this week’s edition of Nothing But Net, Doug Smith takes a look at who would make the all ex-Raptors team from this year’s playoffs and the Canadians eligible to be drafted this summer.

As the Boston Celtics head home for a Friday night game trying to fight history and recovered from a 3-0 series deficit, they are being lauded as a veteran, gritty group that refuses to buckle against all odds.

What of the Houston Rockets, then?

The Rockets are in exactly the same place, having fallen behind 3-0 before winning twice — the second a gusty road win in one of the more difficult environments in the NBA — and they can extend the series to a deciding game with a win in Houston on Friday.

They may not have the cachet or the history that the Celtics do but they have not given up at all and have now beaten a legitimate championship contender in two straight elimination games.

Think James Harden feels good about it?

Harden took Wednesday morning’s shootaround off to fight a flu bug but had 31 points against his old team, including a 7-for-9 night from three-point range.

“I slept all day so I’d have enough energy,” he said.

What the Rockets are accomplishing — and it remains to be seen if they can do something that no NBA team has ever done — is coming against an Oklahoma City team that has some serious questions to answer.

The absence of all-star guard Russell Westbrook, out for the season with a knee injury, has placed all kinds of pressure on many players unused to handling it.

Backup guard Reggie Williams has to assume a greater role, Kevin Martin — the centrepiece of the Harden trade — has struggled terribly including a 1-for-10 night in Game 5 and even the sublime Kevin Durant needs help.

“I have to be better as a leader and lead my guys and get us to play harder every minute,” Durant said after Wednesday’s loss.

The difference in the final two games of the series could come down to which team plays loose and which team plays tight.

The Rockets have nothing to lose; the Thunder have some heavy expectations to live up to.

“We played pressure-free,” Harden told reporters after Wednesday’s game. “Just go out and hoop. We’re an 8-seed. Nobody’s expecting us to win.”

Finding a role

If you had to pick a playoff all-star team of ex-Raptors today you’d probably go with Jarrett Jack and then Jerryd Bayless and not many would have seen that coming.

But it’s simply been a matter of finding the right fit, mental and physical maturity and sometimes it just takes time to find and accept the right niche.

No one can say with any certainty that either of them would have shone as brightly had they stayed with the Raptors and Toronto probably didn’t have time to find out but it does show that it takes time — sometimes an awful lot of time — for players to realize their full potential.

Jack benefits a bit from playing alongside Stephen Curry in Golden State, Bayless has a lot of offensive leeway in Memphis and both are making the most of their chances.

The usual suspects — Miami’s Chris Bosh and San Antonio’s Matt Bonner — would also be on the list and it was a throwback-inducing moment to see both Tracy McGrady and Marcus Camby take short stints in games.

CanCon

Little in the way of surprise when the NBA announced its list of early-entry candidates for June’s draft, especially in the way of Canada.

UNLV’s forward Anthony Bennett, Gonzaga forward Kelly Olynyk and Texas point guard Myck Kabongo are among the 46 North American underclassmen and 31 international players to declare themselves eligible for the June 27 draft.

Bennett is projected now as a surefire lottery pick — the 6-8 forward could go in the top 5 — and the 6-11 Olynyk could sneak into the lottery as well. Kabongo, who missed a majority of last season thanks to an NCAA suspension, is an unknown and will need to prove himself during pre-draft workouts.

But there is every possibility of three Canadians going in the first round, which would be the most ever.

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